After reading a ton of positive reviews, and very few negative reviews, my husband and I were really excited about our stay at Shanty Creek Resorts Summit Village hotel. Over my birthday weekend, we drove from northwest Ohio to scenic Traverse City, Michigan to spend the day visiting the town, the wineries and breweries, and just to enjoy some alone time before the kids headed back to school.

Shanty Creek Resorts Summit Village is located in Bellaire Michigan which is a 20-minute backroads drive from Traverse City. The resort grounds have a lovely golf course (as indicated by the hilariously drunk golfers roaming the parking lot when we arrived at 9pm) and seems to be popular during the ski season because of its location.

We arrived late, exhausted because of our day of travel, and were expecting a comfortable room; especially since we paid nearly $300. While this isn’t the most expensive hotel we’ve ever sprung for, what we got for the cost is why we walked away disappointed.

As soon as we walked in, we noticed that our room faced the parking lot and not the lake view, which was disappointing – we booked on Hotels.com and opted for the lake view – this was likely not the hotel’s fault, but we’ve not yet heard back from Hotels.com staff. There were no king beds when we booked so we were told we’d get either two queens or two full sized beds. We hoped for the queens but got shorted in the draw, unfortunately.

My husband and I didn’t even get to share a bed during our weekend away. Again, this was not a deal breaker for us.

We did have a ‘private’ patio which, although advertised as private, just meant that access was from our room only and could be seen by all those entering the hotel just feet away and by those next to us not separated by any type of privacy.

On the floor of our hotel room was a dead moth; my husband reminded me that at least it was a dead moth. On the wall next to the bed on which I slept was a very smashed housefly (or, it resembled what used to be a housefly). Gross.

Overall, the room wasn’t horrible; it had a fridge and a microwave, which was of great convenience. The beds were comfortable, the room smelled aged but not smoky, which was nice. The bathroom was very clean, had nice toiletries, and a great shower.

Then breakfast came. We headed down to the restaurant and sat. We weren’t greeted, so instead we opted for the buffet, which was a huge mistake. The sausage was dried, the bacon was burnt, the eggs tasted like instant powdered eggs, and it wasn’t until we made our dish and sat that we were finally greeted; we were never offered a different breakfast option, we were offered no apology when we told them we weren’t happy with our breakfast. Instead, we were given a $36 bill!

There were far worse hotels we could’ve stayed, I’m sure, and the grounds of the Shanty Creek Resorts was lovely! They even had little shops and a beer and wine store. If you love golf, it might be a great place to stay. We just didn’t have much luck during our stay.

About Dusty

Dusty is the editor of As Mom Sees It, a family lifestyle and travel site. She is a wife and mother of two in Ohio.

Dusty has been featured on ABC, on Mom Talk Radio and in iBlog Magazine. Her creations have been featured on Craftgawker, DIY Weddings, and in 2013, As Mom Sees It was named one of the Top 50 New Product Review Sites by Cision.

She has been a writer for the Netflix #StreamTeam, and has been a Brand Ambassador and spokesperson for several Globally-recognized brands, including Best Buy.

You can find her on Twitter at @AsMomSeesIt and on Facebook at Facebook.com/asmomseesit.